{{short description|Species of bird}} {{speciesbox | image = Chionis blanc - Pale-faced Sheathbill.jpg | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2017 |title=''Chionis albus'' |volume=2017 |article-number=e.T22693556A118854999 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2017-3.RLTS.T22693556A118854999.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | genus = Chionis | species = albus | authority = (Gmelin, JF, 1789) | synonyms = *''Chionis alba'' <small>(Gmelin, 1789)</small><ref>{{cite web|title=Pale-faced Sheathbill (Chionis alba)|author=The Internet Bird Collection|url=http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/pale-faced-sheathbill-chionis-alba}}</ref> ''Vaginalis alba'' <small>Gmelin, 1789</small> | range_map = Chionis albus map.svg }}
The '''snowy sheathbill''' ('''''Chionis albus'''''), also known as the '''greater sheathbill''', '''pale-faced sheathbill''', and '''paddy''', is one of two species of sheathbill. It is usually found on the ground. It is the only land bird native to the Antarctic continent.<ref name="The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife">{{cite book | last1 = Briggs | first1 = Mike | last2 = Briggs | first2 = Peggy | title = The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife | publisher = Parragon Publishing | year = 2004 | isbn = 1-4054-3679-4 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/encyclopediaofwo0000brig }}</ref>
==Taxonomy== The snowy sheathbill was formally described in 1789 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's ''Systema Naturae''. He placed it in a new genus ''Vaginalis'' and coined the binomial name ''Vaginalis alba''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Gmelin | first=Johann Friedrich | author-link=Johann Friedrich Gmelin| year=1789 | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae: secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis | edition=13th | volume=1, Part 2 | language=Latin | location=Lipsiae [Leipzig] | publisher=Georg. Emanuel. Beer | page=705 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2656198 }}</ref> Gmelin based his description on the "white sheath-bill" that had been described and illustrated in 1785 by the English ornithologist John Latham in his ''A General Synopsis of Birds ''.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Latham | first=John | author-link=John Latham (ornithologist) | year=1785 | title=A General Synopsis of Birds | volume=3, Part 1 | publisher=Printed for Leigh and Sotheby | location=London | pages=268–269; Plate 89 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/40079047 }}</ref> Latham erroneously believed that the bird was found in New Zealand. The type locality was designated as the Falkland Islands by Baron Bradford and Charles Chubb in 1912.<ref>{{ cite book | editor-last=Peters | editor-first=James Lee | editor-link=James L. Peters | year=1934 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=2 | publisher=Harvard University Press | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=308 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14483121 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book | last1=Brabourne | first1=W. | author1-link=Wyndham Knatchbull-Hugessen, 3rd Baron Brabourne | last2=Chubb | first2=C. | author2-link=Charles Chubb (ornithologist) | date=1912 | title=The Birds of South America | location=London | publisher=R.H. Porter | page=36 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/37955459 }}</ref> The snowy sheathbill is now placed in the genus ''Chionis'' that was introduced in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Reinhold Forster.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Forster | first=Johann Reinhold | author-link=Johann Reinhold Forster | date=1788 | title=Enchiridion historiae naturali inserviens, quo termini et delineationes ad avium, piscium, insectorum et plantarum adumbrationes intelligendas et concinnandas, secundum methodum systematis Linnaeani continentur | language=Latin | location=Halae | publisher=Prostat apud Hemmerde et Schwetschke | page=37 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/25760780 }}</ref><ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela Rasmussen | date= August 2022 | title=Buttonquail, thick-knees, sheathbills, plovers, oystercatchers, stilts, painted-snipes, jacanas, Plains-wanderer, seedsnipes | work=IOC World Bird List Version 12.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/new/bow/buttonquail/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 October 2022 }}</ref> The genus name is from the Ancient Greek ''khiōn'' meaning snow. The specific epithet ''albus'' is Latin meaning "white".<ref>{{cite book | last=Jobling | first=James A. | year=2010| title=The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | publisher=Christopher Helm | location=London | isbn=978-1-4081-2501-4 | pages=[https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n101/mode/1up 101], [https://archive.org/stream/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling#page/n40/mode/1up 40]}}</ref> The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.<ref name=ioc/>
==Description== A snowy sheathbill is about {{convert|380|-|410|mm|in|abbr=on}} long, with a wingspan of {{convert|760|-|800|mm|in|abbr=on}}. It is pure white except for its pink, warty face; its Latin name translates to "snow white".<ref name="The Scoop on Poop">{{cite book|last=Lynch|first=Wayne|title=The Scoop on Poop|publisher=Fifth House Books|date=September 26, 2001|isbn=1-894004-59-0}}</ref>
Sheathbills spend 86% of their day hunting for food and the other 14% resting.<ref name="jstor.org">{{cite journal |last1=Favero |first1=Marco |title=Foraging Ecology of Pale-Faced Sheathbills in Colonies of Southern Elephant Seals at King George Island, Antarctica (La Ecología de la Alimentación de la Chionis alba en los Harenes de Elefantes Marinos en la Isla King George, Antarctica) |journal=Journal of Field Ornithology|year=1996 |volume=67 |issue=2 |pages=292–299 |jstor=4514110 }}</ref>
==Distribution and habitat== The snowy sheathbill lives in Antarctica, the Scotia Arc, the South Orkneys, and South Georgia. Snowy sheathbills living very far south migrate north in winter.<ref name="The Encyclopedia of World Wildlife"/>
==Feeding== The snowy sheathbill does not have webbed feet. It finds its food on land. It is an omnivore, a scavenger, and a kleptoparasite and will eat nearly anything. It steals regurgitated krill and fish from penguins when feeding their chicks and will eat their eggs and chicks if given the opportunity. Sheathbills also eat carrion, animal feces, and, where available, human waste. It has been known to eat tapeworms that have been living in a chinstrap penguin's intestine.<ref name="The Scoop on Poop"/>
Sheathbills that are actively hunting for food spend approximately 38% of the day hunting, 20% of the time eating their prey, 23% just resting, 14% doing various comfortable activities, and the final 3% will be towards agonistic behavior.<ref name="jstor.org"/>
== Gallery == <gallery mode="packed"> Image:Flying sheathbill.jpg|Flying sheathbill Image:2019-03-03 165 Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus), Barrientos Island, Antarctica.jpg|This snowy sheathbill is watched carefully by a chinstrap penguin, as they are predators of penguin chicks and eggs Image:Pochwodziob (js).jpg|Eating regurgitated penguin chick food Image:Snowy Sheathbill walks by an Antarctic Fur Seal (5893495431).jpg|Snowy sheathbill walks by an Antarctic fur seal, at Cooper Bay, South Georgia Image:2019-03-03 159 Snowy sheathbill (Chionis albus), Barrientos Island, Antarctica.jpg|Adult snowy sheathbill, on Barrientos Island </gallery>
==References== {{Reflist}} {{Commonscat}}
{{Birds}} {{Taxonbar|from=Q844766}}
Category:Birds of Antarctica snowy sheathbill Category:Birds of islands of the Atlantic Ocean Category:Birds of subantarctic islands Category:Graham Land snowy sheathbill snowy sheathbill
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